The Week That Was

Wednesday.

• Douglas County got things started in the new year versus Chaparral (Nev.) in the Vegas tournament and put a valiant effort, but lost by one point 47-46. The Huskies again battled in their second tournament game of the day but suffered a three-point 63-60 loss to Del Sol High School of Las Vegas.

• Denver East got the Foothill Vegas tournament started with two victories on its first day of action. The first came over Coronado out of Henderson, Nev., 66-48. Guards Brian Carey (12) and Jevon “JJ” Griffin (14) both scored in double figures in the win. The Angels were led by junior phenom Dominique Collier who scored 22 points, four assists, six rebounds and seven steals. Collier was equally impressive in the second game, contributing 20 points, four assists, and six rebounds. Carey had the hot-hand for the Angels in the win over Nevada’s Las Vegas High School, scoring 23 points (8-10 shooting from field) and was 4-5 from 3-point range.

• The Lincoln Lancers got the Foothill Holiday tournament started off right with a 62-55 victory over Valhalla (El Cajon, Calif.). The Lancers jumped out to a 35-20 halftime lead and were able to hold on for the seven-point tournament victory. The Lancers really got their groove going in game two of the day in an 18-point victory over Sequeim (Washington state), 67-49.

Thursday.

• Our state’s top squad suffered their second loss of the season to Army-Navy High School out of Carlsbad, Calif. East put up a strong effort in the 77-71 overtime loss. The Angels report a physical and heated battle which included multiple technical fouls and four East players fouling out of the game. East faced some strong talent on this Army-Navy squad, including a 7-foot-1 center and a lead guard in Devin Watson who scored 40 points. Dominique Collier led East with 23 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Senior Leonard Davis posted a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Jevon Griffin posted 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists. The Angels’ two losses have come to national competition while in Utah and Las Vegas tourneys.

• Mr. Devlin traveled to Parker to take in the ugly post-break matchup between Legend and visiting Dakota Ridge. Legend’s balance and size proved to be too much in this one.

• Danny Strine poured in 16 points for Heritage as the Eagles outscored Mesa Ridge 23-5 in the fourth quarter to wrap up the win.

• Rampart got 16 points from Donovan Oldham and 11 from Thomas Fife in a 57-38 win over Roosevelt. Big Michael Mitchell had a 10-point, 14-rebound double-double performance in the loss.

• Chatfield was down three points at the end of one quarter but then turned it on in a 70-42 win at Pomona.

• Arvada West has a good looking sophomore in Thomas Neff who scored 29 of his team’s 59 points in the 13-point win over Bear Creek. Neff was 6-9 from 3-point land.

• Chaparral was down by two at the end of first quarter but turned the tables on Hinkley in winning 61-47. Brandon Malone’s 21 and Jake Holtzmann’s 20 led the way for Chap, which continues to improve.

• Lincoln moved to 3-0 in Las Vegas with a 56-40 win over Bonanza from Vegas. Strong junior point guard Andre Muniz led the Lancers on this day with 18 points.

• After losing their first two games in Vegas by a total of four points, we were happy to see Douglas County get the 66-65 win over Granite Hills (Calif.). Riley Stewart had a monster double-double of 21 points and 15 rebounds. Calvin Cooke wasn’t far behind with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

• Braydon Barry’s 22 points and Logen Letofsky’s 20 led Pueblo West to a 15-point win over Montrose.

Friday.

• Mr. Devlin covered the showdown between two of our top 5A squads when Arapahoe visited Mountain Vista. Mountain Vista won, 69-54. We would bet this young man Jake Pemberton could care less about any list (he’d rather “show you”) but you can add him to your list of top 2014 juniors. He is a strong, confident wing man who can do it by slashing or from the perimeter. Impressive win for Mountain Vista.

• Denver East cruised to a 83-44 win over Green Valley of Henderson, Nev. East finished the tourney 3-1 and were paced by All-Tournament team member Dominique Collier, who averaged 20 points in the Angels’ four Vegas games. (Collier averaged 20 per game in Utah and made that all-tourney team as well). East had 10 players hit the scoring column, led by Collier’s 22 and sophomore Brian Carey’s 15. Oh, the Ball Fever Crew was smiling wide as our Ball Fever student contributor Keaghan Dunn-Rhodes returned from injury to the court and had eight points, six rebounds and one block in this one. Way to go big Keaghan!

• Lincoln represented Colorado hoops as well in Las Vegas as they brought home the White Division title of the Foothill Tournament, going 4-0 after a 58-43 win over Granite Hills from California. Big Gabe Vasquez led the Lancers in the final game with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Junior point guard Andre Muniz scored 12 points in this game on his way to bringing home some serious hardware with the White Division Tourney MVP. Check Muniz out in this Twitter pic posted by his proud club team the Denver Hooperz. Congratulations to coach Vince Valdez and the Lancers for such a strong showing in Las Vegas.

• Mr. Devlin also wrote about “Mr. Do It All” Josh Perkins carrying a heavy load for the young coach Ken Shaw-led Raiders. On this night Perkins was stat-stuffing in many areas, putting up 18 points, nine assists, nine rebounds and three blocked shots in the upset victory over neighborhood foe Grandview. Senior Eric Stemper added 13 points and Regis made seven 3-pointers in the game. If the Raiders shoot like this they will be tough to beat. The bright spot for Grandview was big junior Akram Imam who had a 20-point, eight-rebound effort.

• Douglas County finished the Foothills Las Vegas tourney 2-2 after a win over Foothill of Henderson, Nev. 70-62.

• Thomas Fife (23) and Donovan Oldham (18) did it again for Rampart in their 67-50 win over Montrose.

• Castleview posted an impressive 30-point road win at Hinkley 80-50.

• Another Denver Prep League squad that will make league play interesting is Denver South, which advanced to 8-2 after a 71-45 win over Green Mountain. The Rebels had balanced scoring led by Tyson Purifoy’s 17.

• Mr. Jon E. Yunt covered the packed house at D’Evelyn, where Valor pulled the upset on 4A No. 1 to cause more shake up in the rankings. Two of our state’s top pure scorers Luke Stratman (37) and Chase Foster (28) did not disappoint!

• The Fever crew made it out to George Washington for our first look at the Patriots. Very entertaining and challenging game that needed overtime for visiting Doherty to pull off the 52-51 victory. The Patriots had chances to get the win at the end of regulation and OT but shots just rimmed off. Big road win for the Spartans. Jevon Taylor was a bright spot for the Patriots, scoring 18 points.

• Ponderosa held on in a tight 50-47 win over Brighton. Big man Jonathon Barnes had 13 points and three blocked shots in the win.

Folks, the first action of 2013 may bring us another No. 1 in 4A action after Valor’s huge win. Take note that Valor won in D’Evelyn’s gym without Christian McCaffrey. Just saying.

Will 5A’s No. 1 Denver East lose out on the coaches poll’s No. 1 spot after its second loss in out-of-state competition? Ball Fever says they’re No. 1 until someone in the 303 can take them down. But Mountain Vista was mighty impressive in taking down Arapahoe, and don’t forget they have another strong win over Columbine under their belt as well. Vista’s 10-0 record may be enough to get that No. 1 spot — can’t wait to find out!

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